That One Cool Hiking Blog
The Adventures of the Indiana Joneses
I really don’t know why thy call it that. It’s a valley. And it’s most definitely a gorge. Never seen a bull in it and judging by what it takes to get down through it, I’m not sure a bull could make it. Nevertheless, I’m sure there is some folklore I’m not aware of from ages past from which it derives its name. What it’s known for today, however, is something far more intriguing and less nuanced. There’s a truck stuck in the gorge. Suspended somewhere in excess of 50’ above the floor of the gorge is an old truck wedged between the rocks. Keep reading
In just two weeks we went from feeling on top of the world (almost literally as we stood on the mountain looking down at the Delaware Water Gap) to an emergency situation with my mom in the hospital and having to take care of my dad and my handicapped sister. Needless to say, we were a little shell shocked. Sending our oldest two sons back off to college, juggling the responsibilities of two households, harvesting and putting up the produce from two gardens, and still trying find time to make a living. Not really much time for hiking the past couple of weeks. But there has been a good bit of time for some serious reflection on what really matters in life. I’d really like to tell you we’re doing alright under the circumstances…but I can’t. Keep reading
Our recent trip to New York didn’t end at Niagara Falls. In fact, it was just the beginning. After spending the day at Niagara Falls, we drove down to the Pocono Mountains and spent a week at the Carriage House. We didn’t do a lot of hiking while we were there, but the hiking we did do was really cool. Keep reading
Amazingly, I get to mark one more thing off my bucket list this summer. As I told you before, I have always wanted to see Niagara Falls, and we got to spend the entire day there last Friday. It is as spectacular as I imagined, and remember, I’ve got a very vivid imagination. Now we are used to going to places that are off the beaten path and crowds aren’t something we encounter. So, I have to admit it caused a little claustrophobia being around that many people. Keep reading
In spite of the heat and humidity this past Saturday, we were so inspired by our own blog post, that we went up to the Salamonie Reservoir in search of waterfalls. The Salamonie is one of our go-to places when we get this random urge to go hiking. It’s nice because it’s less than 30 minutes away from our house. It had rained quite a bit throughout the week so we knew our chances of finding a waterfall would be increased. Keep reading
It’s hot. It’s humid. I don’t know about the rest of the country, but summer has arrived in Indiana. You go outside and feel like you’re getting licked in the face by a yak. July is worse for motivation then February is for new year’s resolutions. Seriously, I worked up a sweat just writing those last few sentences. If I actually got up off the couch, put on my exercise clothes, and walked out the door I just might melt…literally melt from the buckets of sweat pouring from my body. Okay, okay. So maybe I’m overexaggerating, but it is hot. Keep reading
I know I’m probably alone here. I realize that I have a problem unique unto myself, but I’m going to put myself out there on the off-chance that there is someone out there that suffers from the same affliction that I do. So here goes. I understand my need for exercise. I am aware of the benefits of said exercise on both my physical and mental well-being. But when it comes to actually exercising, I’m…well…unmotivated. There, I said it. I lack the motivation to do that which will only benefit me in the long run. (Did you see what I did there?…”long run”) Keep reading
Growing up hearing all of the stories of my father’s adventures in Utah made it sound like a mystical land full of untold secrets. Story after story made me wonder if it could all be true! When we made our family trip to Utah in 2012, I could see the wonders come vividly to life… the stories rang true! Well, all but one. The legend of “Mike’s Crack.” It’s not like it sounds (or maybe it is), so let me explain. My Dad made a trip to Utah many years ago to visit his brother and hike in the southern part of the state. One of the many things they did that trip was hike in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. The Needles consists of rows of ginormous fins of rock jutting from the earth. My father and uncle did some exploring and stumbled upon a chimney in the rock between the fins. My dad then climbed up the chimney to the top of the fin to see the amazing view. My uncle wanted to do the same thing so he tried and tried to get up the chimney but just couldn’t. From all of the stories told again and again my uncle finally gave up with these words: “I can’t get up Mike’s Crack!” Keep reading
Sticking to it and achieving your goals
Have you ever set a difficult goal for yourself and when the going got tough, asked yourself, “Whose idea was this anyway?” This has happened to me several times in my journey to lose weight and get in shape. In a perfect world, all my progress would be forward; but the world isn’t perfect and my self-discipline wavers, causing me sometimes to go two steps forward and one step back. I had found myself in a step back a couple of months before our trip this summer, and the thought of all the hiking we planned to do on our trip was giving me the motivation to move forward again. I knew I needed something challenging to work towards, and the hike that I was the most excited about was hiking from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I needed to get in shape! Keep reading
On our trip to Utah we saw tons of amazing scenery. From Delicate Arch to remote places of the Needles to random slot canyons, we saw as much as we could get to. However, while everyone else was looking up at the scenery I was looking down. So, I probably couldn’t tell you what a lot of what the scenery was even like lol. The truth was that I wanted to find a rattlesnake. The sad part was that I didn’t ever actually find one. This fact seemed to be pleasing to my mom for some reason, but honestly I was kinda disappointed. If you are like my mom it is a good thing if you do not see any wildlife that is even remotely dangerous; however, it is important to be knowledgeable about the wildlife that could potentially be harmful in case you do see them. For example, if you are setting up a tent and there is a spider web, you might want to know what kind of spider it is before you decide to destroy its web to make room for your tent. It could also be important to know that scorpions sometimes like to crawl inside shoes during the night. It is always better to be prepared than to simply pretend they don’t exist. For those of you like me, it is important to have a healthy fear of dangerous wildlife. If you find a rattlesnake, first, you are luckier than me, but second, don’t pick it up. Living is always better than being dead. In short, just be smart. Pay attention to wildlife warning signs that are usually located at the beginning of trailheads so that you know what to look out for. Keep reading
Copyright
© That One Cool Hiking Blog, 2016. All of the content on this blog is property of That One Cool Hiking Blog. Feel free to share our posts and pictures in their original form and context. Also, make sure to provide full and clear credit to That One Cool Hiking Blog with specific locations of the original content.
